The first is what lies in the realm of possibility. The second lies in the realm of fever dreams, disinformation, or just bald lies.

I read a rumor that I hold no stock in. That rumor was the possibility of Miles Morales being in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The reason I don’t hold any stock in it is simple:

Marvel Studios is not any other movie studio. They have a plan, and they know how to execute it. And while I’m a black man, I’m not seeing the upside of changing the race of the cinematic Spider-Man. I don’t see what that gets Marvel Studios in the long run.

Fox has poisoned the Fantastic Four for me by changing the Storms to black (and having Sue remain lilly-white) for no discernable reason. The dynamic changes in a way that isn’t needed. Bringing race into it just doesn’t work for me.

Look at The Flash tv show. Changing Iris West from a white woman to a black woman is fine there, because the dynamic doesn’t change. Barry is still in love with her, and her race is never an issue. The reason this is okay is because she’s a secondary character.

It might seem hyperbolic, but to me, changing Johnny Storm from white to black is the same thing as changing Luke Cage from black to white. It changes the dynamic of the hero. (Or, worse, since Johnny is supposed to be the irresponsible hothead, it paints black people in a bad light. Might as well put him in a gang and be done with it.)

Swapping out Peter Parker for Miles Morales changes the dynamic of the character. I think that hurts the entire dynamic of the universe, and will hurt viewer experience.

I understand that the last two movies didn’t live up to expectations, either critically or at the box office. I was disappointed in the Amazing Spider-Man 2, myself. I’m not looking forward to yet another origin story for Spider-Man, and I don’t believe Marvel will do that to us. (I have nothing to back this up. It’s a leap of faith on my part. I’d say common sense, but we know how that goes.) I think Spidey will show up in Captain America 3 as well as Avengers 3 Pt 1, and then get his own movie. If he shows up before getting an origin movie, then it can be glossed over in the opening credits.

(And there’s also the possibility of Spidey getting his origin in whatever his first MCU appearance will be. That makes sense to me.)

I’m just not seeing the upside for Marvel Studios to make this change. It’s nonsensical to me.